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I have been using a Lowepro Micro Trekker 200 for the last several years. It's been a great bag and has held up very well. The problem is, it's just not comfortable enough to wear for an extended period of time. I usually set it down somewhere (leave it in the truck). The camera comes out and gets hung around my neck. If I need to switch lenses, I'm out of luck unless I walk back to where ever I set the bag down. I wanted something easy and comfortable that would allow me to carry just enough equipment to get the shots I wanted.
After doing a lot or research on line and in store, I found the Slingshot line of bags. I chose the 202 because it was the smallest bag that would fit my camera with a mid range lens attached. My go-to setup is a Nikon D5000 with the 16-85mm lens. As small as this combination is, it won't fit in the 100 series bag unless you detach the lens first. I chose the 202 over the 200 because the 202 has a strap to carry a tripod built on to the side of the back pack.
**Update 11/12/10 I recently purchased a Nikon 70-300 mm VR lens. The lower camera portion of the 202 will fit the equivilent of 1 DSLR and up to 4 Nikon 70-300mm VR lenses and still have enough room for a charger & spare battery. (I know there is no reason to carry 4 of the same lenses. I share this because it gives you a maximum point of reference.) The 70-300 lens attached to the camera will fit comfortably. The other 3 will fit, but tightly! The equipment I use most often is a D5000 DSLR, 12-24mm, 16-85mm, 70-300mm, 35mm F1.8 and an SB800 flash. You can comfortably carry one DSLR, any 4 of the above, and a battery charger & spare battery in the lower portion of the bag. There are still front and top zipper pockets for other gear and/or your lunch. End of update.**
I also bought the Lowepro Bottle Bag which I highly recommend. It attaches via built-in straps on the side or back of the slingshot. So now, I can even carry a drink. Lowepro sells a variety of accessories like the bottle bag that can attach to their camera bags.
From a pratical standpoint, the Slingshot series of bags allows a photographer a considerable amount of convenience and freedom. The bag is comfortable on your back. You can carry as much or as little equipment as you want. When you need it, the bags "slings" around to your front without taking it off your shoulder. You pull out your camera, take your shot, put the camera back, and move on hands free. With the bag in the front position, it even makes a steady spot to rest your arm/support the camera for those longer exposure shots. The Sling Shot even has a built-in all weather cover that you pull out to protect the back pack and your equipment in the event of rain or snow.
The one odd thing I found only affects you if you buy the bottle bag or some other accessory like I did. The only logical place to attach the bottle bag and be able to easily reach it, is on the same side where the tripod strap is. (The other side of the bag has the flap that opens to the camera.) If you do this, you can't carry both at the same time. You can attach the bottle bag to the front (back of the back pack when it's on your back), but you'll never reach your water bottle without taking the back pack off or "slinging" it around. This is not a problem or a design flaw. It is just something to be aware of if you take my advice and buy a bottle bag or other accessory.
The one complaint I have... The opening where the camera body sits is considerably wider than it needs to be. It turns into waisted space. Lowepro should come up with a use/design to take advantage of this wasted space. If they are reading my review, it would make a great spot to install a small compartment/wallet to hold spare batteries and a charger, add one more divider to hold something like lens hoods, or extend the existing divider so you could fit a longer zoom lens.
In the reseach I did, I couldn't find a better back pack. It is so near perfect that unless something better comes along, I have to give this bag a "highly recommended" to anyone considering it. I would happily buy it again.
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UPDATE 6/6/2011: I found a pouch that comes out on the tripod mount side of the bag. It captures the bottom of your tripod or monopod and the you clasp the top portion. this works pretty well.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program இ Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:
ѾѾѾѾѾ Highly recommended with warm fuzzies!
I had been using the previous/original version of this sling bag, the Lowepro Slingshot 200 All Weather Backpack (Black), since 2006. For me, this is the perfect SlingShot size. The SlingShot 100/102 is too small for my needs, and while I also have the SlingShot 300 AW, I do not like how it sags too low down on my lower back regardless of how tight I try to adjust the straps to raise the bag up to ride higher on my back. So I only carry my SlingShot 300 AW if I really need to tote the extra amount of gear inside it.
This review is entirely written from the perspective of looking at what Lowepro improved upon compared to their original SlingShot 200 AW model. I have also uploaded 7 fully-annotated images to the 'View and share related images' Customer Images gallery that describe the side-by-side differences between the older SlingShot 200 and new SlingShot 202 models.
I noticed that Amazon currently still offers both the older SlingShot 200 AW model and the newer updated 202 AW model for about the same price. If both are similarly priced, get this 202 AW instead of the older-model 200 AW. If you currently have a Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW that is showing its wear after years of usage and wonder about switching to the new version, this updated 202 model offers a number of incremental improvements, but this is not a radical redesign of the 200 model, and that is a good thing since the original SlingShot 200 AW was quite good to begin with.
While the well-padded sling that goes diagonally across the back of the bag can be hung over your left shoulder so that the bag loosely rests on your left shoulder blade, it is designed to be primarily worn by slipping both your head and left arm through the sling so that the sling comes over your right shoulder, goes diagonally down the front of your body, and connects to the bag behind the left side of your abdomen. Once the bag is slung onto your back, a smaller strap coming from the bottom-right of your abdomen clasps onto the sling in the front at chest level to further prevent shifting of the bag.
One main advantage of this sling design is that you can conveniently access the bag's contents by unclasping the smaller strap and rotating the sling clockwise around your neck to bring the bag from behind your left side until it rests on your abdomen. With the bag slung in front of you, you can now unzip the main compartment's lid, and you can proceed to change cameras, lenses, memory cards, batteries, or access other supplies. I have made changes to my camera before while still slowly walking with the backpack slung on my abdomen as the top-facing part of the bag can be used as a platform to rest the camera body upon.
This sling bag provides quicker ease of access to your gear by allowing you to swivel the bag from your back to your front, whereas you have to fully take a backpack off to access your gear. This convenience feature does not only apply to when you are standing up, but if you travel as much as I do, you will find this ability to quickly swivel the bag to the front is also advantageous when frequently getting on and off buses, subways, and trains. When I get onto a bus, subway, or train, I quickly swivel my SlingShot around to the front so that it rests on my lap while I am sitting down. And when I get off the bus, the sling bag swivels just as quickly onto my back again. This is less cumbersome than taking a backpack's straps off your shoulders, placing the backpack on your lap or the floor during the bus ride, and then looping the backpack's straps onto your shoulders again when you get off the bus.
However, some people, notably women, may not like how the sling strap and second smaller strap tighten diagonally across the chest area. So these sling bag configurations will not be comfortable for everyone, especially since a fully-loaded sling backpack can pull on the entire chest area with its frontal diagonal straps. The load that is exerted onto your chest depends upon how much weight you are carrying inside the sling bag. With one camera body and one lens in the sling bag, you may be okay; but once you start adding extra lenses, flash, and other gear, your discomfort may increase. As is also the case with how different backpacks may fit you with different levels of comfort, whether you find this sling bag's diagonal sling to be comfortable on your chest may ultimately be an important deciding factor in your purchasing decision. If you frequently carry a "messenger bag" style of laptop bag (e.g. Timbuk2 laptop messenger bags) fully loaded with laptop and books, usually worn with its strap going diagonally across your chest, you should be okay with how this SlingShot feels.
Both the SlingShot 200 and 202 models can carry both my Canon 7D with attached 17-55mm f/2.8 lens and Canon 40D with attached 70-200mm f/4L lens (with hoods reversed and no battery grip). Basically, to convert this from a one-camera SlingShot to a two-camera setup, you rotate both cameras 90 degrees and rearrange the dividers on the bottom of the bag. I added an image to the 'View and share related images' Customer Images gallery if you want to see what this looks like. Unlike a regular backpack that uses shoulder straps, the front diagonal straps do exert more pressure on your chest as you load up more weight inside the sling bag, so you may not find this comfortable for carrying two cameras. While I would not go on a 6-hour walking tour of a city always carrying both cameras inside my SlingShot, I may initially head out with both cameras stored inside and keep them stored as I get into cars/buses/airplanes. And then once I am walking about, I will take out the 17-55mm camera, leaving the 70-200mm camera inside, ready for use.
By far, the most important improvement in the new SlingShot 202, compared with the old 200 model, is the addition of the tripod buckle, cinch strap, and hideaway foldout tripod feet pouch on the side of the 202's bag. On the 200, you had 3 SlipLock Attachment Loops, 2 on the back and 1 on the side, that you could use to sort of carry a tripod or monopod, but I never felt like it securely held my tripod in place. But now with the cinch strap and foldout tripod feet pocket that holds the bottom of the tripod/monopod, this is a far more secure and neater configuration for carrying a tripod. The tripod feet pocket is about 2.5 inches deep. So you insert your tripod feet into this pouch and then buckle and tighten the top cinch strap. A 22 or 24 inch long tripod feels balanced and secure when I carry the Slingshot on my back. When I swing the bag to the front of my chest, the tripod is then positioned underneath the bag and it does not feel very loose because, most importantly, I tighten the top cinch strap very tight. However, I really wished that Lowepro made this pouch deeper. A tripod feet pocket that is 3.5 or 4.0 inches deep would have given a more secure fit to hold the bottom feet of the tripod.
The 202 is a little more boxy and rigid than the previous 200 model. You can set the 202 down on the ground or on a table in an upright position and it will stay standing upright by itself. The bottom of the 200 was not as flat and could sometimes flop forward or backward if you tried to stand it upright on a flat surface.
The SlingShot 202 has an extra zippered pocket in the top compartment's zippered flap for extra separate storage space. In adding this pocket, the SlipLock Attachment Loop that used to be attached to the 200's top compartment's zippered flap is no longer there on the 202. On the inside of the 202's top compartment's zippered flap, there is yet another zippered pocket, along with an elastic band for securely holding an item. The top compartment on the 202 is also more roomier compared with the 200.
The soft microfiber protective LCD monitor cloth has been repositioned from being sewn into the center edge of the main compartment's opening on the SlingShot 200, and is now moved over to the left edge of the main compartment's opening (on the left side when viewed from the perspective of having the bag slung in front of you and looking down into the main compartment's cavity). This is nice in that the cloth flap does not get in the way as much when you are accessing the camera. In both the 200 and 202, there is an elastic mesh pocket that can store the LCD monitor cloth if you want to tuck it away.
I also have the Lowepro Magnum 200 AW Shoulder Bag (Black), which is another excellent quality bag from Lowepro, and on that bag the microfiber protective LCD monitor cloth is attached to the inside wall of the bag using Velcro so that you can move the cloth to wherever you want it. In addition, having a removable and relocatable LCD monitor cloth not only gives you flexibility in placement of the cloth, but also makes it far easier to wash the cloth if it gets dirty. But on all of the first-generation and second-generation SlingShot models, this cloth is permanently sewn into the bag and you cannot move or remove it. I would have MUCH preferred that this cloth was attached using Velcro the way that Lowepro's Magnum 200 AW was designed!
On the inside lid of the main compartment, the 202 has two Velcro-closure memory card pockets. But on the older SlingShot 200 model, there was actually a single larger Velcro-closure pocket and inside that main pocket were 8 separate elastic pockets for holding memory cards. This is the only feature that I thought was actually better on the old 200 model compared with the new 202 bag, and I wish that Lowepro had retained the 200 bag's inside lid pocket and also used it on the 202 bag. On the old 200 bag, this inside lid pocket could hold more CompactFlash cards compared with the 202 bag's two memory card pockets. The only advantage that I can see for this redesign is that the two separate memory card pouches hold the cards more securely compared with opening up a larger pocket that stored more memory cards inside it. But I still like the older pocket better!
௫ Fuzzy Wuzzy's Conclusion:
To summarize, in comparing this SlingShot 202 AW to the previous SlingShot 200 AW bag, the top compartment area's storage space was increased by adding two zippered pockets to the top compartment's zippered flap, and the top compartment, in general, is a bit larger. The microfiber LCD monitor cloth was repositioned to move it out of the way more when accessing the camera. And the inside lid's memory card pockets were redesigned. But the most compelling reason to upgrade from a SlingShot 200 AW to this SlingShot 202 AW is the tripod strap and foot pouch on the side of the 202. These differences between the 200 and 202 are better displayed and described on the 8 images that I added to the 'View and share related images' Customer Images gallery. Overall, these are evolutionary, not revolutionary, improvements to an already-great sling bag!
Honest reviews on Lowepro SlingShot 302 AW
First, a bit about myself: I am a semi-professional photographer who does a variety of work with my cameras, including things like motorsports, which require me to be walking around long hours with my gear and to access that gear in locations where I often don't have a place to put my bag down on a safe surface to take things in and out of it or swap lenses or the like.
Because of these needs, the Slingshot series of bags appealed to me. For those unfamiliar with them, they have a unique design they're a sling, which means that there is one shoulder strap. When you put the bag on your shoulder, it will hang at a canted angle across your back. Then, if you need to access your gear, you reach behind you and slide the bag around under your left arm so it comes to rest sitting across your belly. When you do this, it sits at a perfect horizontal angle, and there is a flap opening on what is now the "top" (the side, when it's on your back) of the bag. Unzipping the flap gives you access to the internal compartment. The flap is a "two position" opening you can unzip just the side opening or continue opening the zippers all the way across the bag to access the full internal compartment. There are two fastex buckles to prevent you from accidentally opening it all the way, or to hold it from letting all your gear spill out in case you do. The internal compartment is made up of a series of movable panels which are secured with velcro and are easily customizable. I have arranged these dividers so that when the bag is in the "front" position, I can access my camera body with a lens mounted, and a second lens as well. The rest of the gear in the other internal compartments stays secured unless you unzip the opening all the way, which is best done with the bag on a flat surface. This setup allows me to walk for a while with the camera stowed, and then access it and be ready to shoot within a few seconds. I can also do lens changes and the like while standing without setting any gear down, and everything stays nice and safe.
The main compartment is easily large enough for a pro-level DSLR body with a decent lens attached (Mine fits my Canon with a mounted 70-200mm L series lens with room to spare) as well as several spare lenses and a spare body. Also inside the main compartment are a microfiber LCD cleaning cloth (which is attached to the bag) for wiping down the screen on the back of your camera, and several memory card holders mounted just inside the flap opening, so that they're also accessible when the bag is in the "front" position on your belly.
Above the main compartment is a smaller top compartment. This has several elastic loops and mesh pockets for storing various gear, as well as a small zippered pocket on the inside of the flap. I typically carry various cables, card readers, filters, or the like in here. There are also two small-ish zippered pockets on the outside of the bag. One is flat and I use it to carry business cards. The other has some pen loops and such.
The bag itself is typical Lowepro construction well made, with heavy duty zippers, good high-denier nylon fabric, and solidly put together. I have no doubts that it will hold up and do the job it is intended for. I also know several other working photographers who use the Slingshot bags, and they're more than happy with them.
One thing that may be in the minds of some people looking at this bag is how it compares to the other two bags in the Slingshot series the 102AW and the 202AW. The obvious difference is size, but there are a few feature differences that people should be aware of as well, and I'll mention those in a second. First, though, comes sizing, as it's the biggest differentiation. The main thing to be aware of is that if you're using longer lenses (my Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens for example, which is 6.8 inches long without the hood) you will need the 302AW. I had originally purchased the 202AW, but with that lens mounted on my camera, it was just a little too long for the 202. I could get the bag closed, but the camera and lens were a tight fit that I just wasn't comfortable with. They fit properly in the 302 with room to spare. If you aren't using lenses that are that long, or don't need quite as much space to tote other lenses or a second camera body with you, the 202 would probably do fine. The 102 will fit a body and kit lens, but not much else. The 302 does feel significantly larger than the 202, but the extra storage and knowing my camera and lens aren't quite as susceptible to a side impact are worth the bulk at least to me.
Now, for those feature differences I mentioned. The first one is that in addition to the shoulder strap, the 302 also has a fairly hefty waist belt. The 102 and 202 don't have a waist belt. Instead, they have a secondary small strap that passes around your right side and under your right arm to buckle on to the main strap. This helps hold the bag securely and keep it from shifting when it's on your back. I would like to have this on my 302, and am actually considering adding one myself. The waist belt on the 302 is nice, but I don't always want to wear it, and I wish there were some way to stow it away. Secondly, the 302 also has a small strap that runs across the bottom of the bag. At first I didn't see a purpose for it, but it's actually intended as a useful grab handle. When the bag is on your back and you want to sling it around to your front, you just reach back with your left arm, grab the strap, and tug. This actually makes shifting the 302 around to the front position a little easier than shifting the other bags in the series.
All in all, this is a great bag with a unique and useful feature of allowing you quick access to your camera and a safe "workspace" when you need it. I am quite happy with it, and am already looking forward to having it with me at a three day event next month.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lowepro SlingShot 302 AW
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program If you're looking at the Lowepro SlingShot camera bags for the first time, I will start by telling you a bit about how they are meant to be worn. This is a backpack with a single shoulder strap. The strap sits on your right shoulder, diagonally crosses the front of your body, and attaches to the bag again at your left side. The idea is that you can "sling" (pull) the bag around from your back to your front without ever having to take it off. The bag is designed in such a way that when you do this, the side of the bag becomes the top, and the main compartment and zippers are facing you for quick access to you gear. Because of the single "across the body" strap design, the backpack will never sit perfectly straight on your back, rather at a slight angle. To compensate this, there is a padded waist belt, which helps straighten the pack and distribute the load.
The 302AW is divided into two sections; the main compartment (measuring 11.4w x 5.9d x 10.6h") being for your SLR camera (or other gear), and a smaller, top compartment for personal items. There is also a third pouch pocket on the front for things like your wallet, keys, pens, cellphone. In addition, there are plenty of elasticized straps, loops, netted and zippered areas all your smaller items (like flash cards, lens filters), all designed to keep everything organized and easily accessible. The built-in lens cleaning cloth has a use, but it cannot be removed for laundering. Same goes for the built-in rain cover, which is a bit of a double-edged sword. If you're caught in a sudden rainstorm, it's great that you can pull it out of the bottom of the bag, and stretch it over to protect your gear, but you will likewise have to leave it hang out, flapping in the breeze, to dry because it's stitched in.
The SlingShot 302AW has ample padding in all the right places to make it comfortable to wear and to protect your gear. Although built for photographers and intended primarily as a camera bag, on another day this versatile backpack could be used for anything, by anyone after a backpack that you don't have to remove to access. The modular Velco spacers in the main compartment can be easily reconfigured any way you like. I reconfigured mine to carry a 10.1" netbook, compact camera, iPod, and all the associated power and USB cables, and still have room to spare. It's carry-on compatible (according to the tag) so it makes a great way to organize all your essential gear for your next flight.
Premium camera bag or versatile backpack, the SlingShot 320AW is an all-round winner in my book.
